Her Portrait in Black
by Jenna-Leigh89
Summary: I used to live in Roanoke, Virginia. I moved from there about 2 1/2 years ago to be closer to the art school I wanted to go to. No now live in Mystic Falls, all because of the one person who changed my life when I was 16. Damon Salvatore.-Damon/OC
1. Chapter One

**Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer: The characters on Vampire Diaries are not my own, I hold NO rights to them. Further more, credit for the title can be given to Atreyu and their production team.**

**Side note: I love Damon, love his character. Also I felt that the lyrics to the song Her Portrait in Black by Atreyu fit the idea for the story and the relationship between Shane and Damon.**

**The Intro **

**And Chapter One**

In everyone's life there is always that one person who changes you. Whether they make you want to be a better person or get you to take a few steps out side you comfort zone. This person could be anyone; a stranger you pass on the street, a child helping a woman who dropped her bag of groceries, a friend being, a partner, someone in your family. Anyone.

My name is Shane Weston, I live in Roanoke, Virginia, and I met the person who changed my life when I was 16. He was 21. Some thought he was too old for me, I never thought that 5 years was too bad. I think if I was 18 everyone would have been fine with it. But if I was 18 he would have been 23. It didn't matter what age I was, he'd still be 5 years older then I was.

-----------

I had been with my sister, who was 22 at the time, and she wanted to stop at the bar and get something. I can't even remember what it was that she wanted to get, but that part isn't what's important. We walked in and Maggie went over to her boyfriend who was working that night. I knew most of the people there that night through my sister or my father, but there was one guy who stood out. One who I was sure was new, both to the bar and to the town. He was also behind the bar, serving some college girls who were clearly swooning over him. I took a few steps closer, to get better look at him while trying to be discreet about it. His hair was a dark brown and was a little on the long side, but only just past his ears. It looked almost as if he woke up and pushed his hair away from his eyes and went in to work.

I was almost positive that it was this guys first day working at the bar since I had never seen him before, but the way he was working you'd never be able to tell. He spun bottles of vodka like he was a pro, easily pouring eight shots in a row. I always love to watch the spins and flips bartenders did with the bottle that was in their hand and since my cousin owned the bar and my sisters' boyfriend was a manager, I was aloud to go in when ever. When this new guy did those tricks I was so sure I could never do, he made everyone I had seen look like an amateur.

I stepped up over to the bar, keeping a good distance from the new bartender. After sitting on the stool for only about five minutes, my cousin Luke, came from the back and saw me sitting there. He walked over, nudging my arm and leaning on the surface in front of me.

"What are you doing here, cuz? Not like I'm going to let you drink, all my guys know who you are. I told you the deal, you can hang out but you can't drink. Aunt Kate would kill me." Luke smirk, raising his eyebrows waiting for me to respond.

"I'm not here to drink, Maggie's here somewhere. She wanted to get something but didn't know what. Then, she saw Mike and went over to say hi. I'm just waiting for her to be ready to leave, I wasn't waiting in the car." Luke reached under the bar and pulled out a glass, filling it with coke. "Thanks. Oh and, not all your guys know me." I pointed to his new hire. "I've never seen him before, therefore he would have never seen me before. So, he would in fact _not_ know who I am."

Luke looked to who I had pointed to, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, maybe not. But he will. Hey Damon," He yelled down the bar, making his new bartender turn his head. "Could you come here for a second?"

"Josh, he's working leave him alone." Damon passed a girl her drink, smiled at the crowd around him and walked over to Josh and me.

"What's the matter Shane, gotta crush?" I glared at Luke and smack his arm. "What, it's not like you're the only on."

"Hey, I'm not doing anything wrong am I?" Damon asked Luke. He glanced over at me for a second, when he did I saw that his eyes looked to be blue. Then he did a double take, looking back at me. This time I noticed that his eyes weren't just any blue, they were a smoky gray, ice blue. He smiled at me, which was just as beautiful as his eyes. "I'm Damon."

I couldn't help but grin back at him, like some sort of love sick puppy. I could feel my stomach start to do flips, something that never happened before. "Um, I'm Shane."

"She's my cousin. She's 16. Don't serve her." Luke smiled at me than Damon, patted his shoulder and went back to the storage room.

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Damon, letting out a small nervous laugh. "So, you're his cousin?" Damon looked at me, popping up his right eyebrow.

"Yeah. And since I don't have a brother, he feels like he has to take that role. What he just said there was both to tell you not to try anything and to _actually_ tell younot to serve me. Don't let him scare you, Luke is not as scary as he thinks he is."

Damon leaned forward, his face closer to mine, and spoke in a low voice. "It takes a lot to scare me and you cousin is defiantly _not _one of the things that can scare me." His mouth curled up in a smirk, which made me smile just a little.

"My cousin doesn't scare anyone, trust me." I looked over at the other end of the bar to see my sister saying good-bye to Mike. "Looks like my rides leaving."

Damon looked over, nodding. "I guess so. Hey, how often you come here?"

I was a little taken aback by this question. It sounded like he had wanted to see me again, but before I answered I thought that there was no way someone like him would care about someone like me.

"Um, I don't know. At least twice a week I guess, usually to help out when it gets busy on the weekends. Why?"

Damon pushed himself off the dark polished wood bar, crossing his arms across his chest, and shrugged. "No reason I guess. Just thought that if you came in tomorrow I have an excuse to get myself away from ditzy college girls with bigger breast then brains. Have an intelligent conversation with someone."

I tilted my head to the side slightly. "Have an intelligent conversation with someone like me? You know I can't be all that intelligent just yet, I am only 16."

"Shane, age doesn't mean anything when you know how to put your mind to good use and you're not sitting around all day sniffing nail polish, killing you brain cells slowly."

-----------

Damon had this way of speaking to you, never talking down to you or acting as if he knew more about the topic then you did. When it was the two of us he usually did know more then I did, but he never once made me feel like an idiot for being uneducated about selected subjects. He was beautiful in more ways then one. His physical looks were obvious; the eye, the smile, the way he styled his hair, the way his shirts sometimes clung to his torso enabling you to see a shadowing of his muscles. Everyone noticed his looks and that was all they saw, to them there was nothing there but a pretty face.

I knew better. I knew just how wonderfully intelligent he was, how beautifully he spoke, how passionate he was about his almost everything, how kind and sweet he was, or how he was a great cook. Of course there really wouldn't be anyone who knew that, no one spent more time with him then I did. People watched him make their drinks and then they left. There were so many nights that I was sure there was something better that he could be doing then spending time with me. Some nights, when I'd have a test the following day, he'd stay up all night to help me study. He was always especially great with history, more specifically the Civil War. It amazed me, I had never know anyone some smart before.

He would tell me how his father was a very controlling man who wanted him and his brother to do exactly as he did. Damon would remind me to never let someone else try to live my life for me every time I brought up my own father and the fact that he wanted me to go to Law school. I had never known what it was I wanted to do but I knew I did _not_ want to be a lawyer. I was very drawn to art of all kinds and even had some talents in both the visual and performing arts. Damon loved to hear me sing and to just watch me paint or take photographs, Damon was usually my favorite subject but only when he didn't know what I was doing.

He would to the most random, yet sweetest things. There was this one day were I had gotten a 'D' on a paper I thought I had done really well on. It wasn't really that big of a deal since I was aloud to rewrite it, but Damon was standing out side the school at 2 PM with a bouquets of purple orchids, may favorite flower which I had only mentioned once when we first started hanging out. Later in the day he brought me to see a movie, then we went back to his place where he cooked this _fantastic_ chicken meal, again chicken being my favorite to have for dinner.

He would do things like that all the time. If the most minuscule thing went wrong in my day, like I broke a nail of stubbed my toe, Damon would bring me flowers or take me to lunch, bring me dancing or to a karaoke bar, which he hated. He said once, when I had asked him why he did these little things, that it was all just to see me happy and smiling.

We went roller skating once, another thing that Damon didn't like since he wasn't very good at it. We had been sitting on his couch, me nestled in his arms, and I had just said that I always had fun roller skating. Then he wanted to go, he said we would have fun. And we did, once we actually found a rink after two and a half hours of driving. When the night was done, he brought me home, gave me a kiss, and said good night and that he loved me. Even then I knew the way he said it was different, but I didn't want to believe it. I told myself that I was just being paranoid and over thinking his tone. I never saw him after that night.

Damon may have left with out a word, other then the ones he said to be every time we parted ways, but I was never angry with him. Yes I was hurt, but it was still alright. Because of Damon I never had to go to Law school, being with him was like someone turned on a light switch. Before him I never realized that I had a choice and that doing what I wanted rather then what my father wanted me to do was okay.

Damon Salvatore. He was my first love, my first real kiss, my first everything else. He was also that one person who changed my life. A life which brought me to live in another Virginia town, one closer to my art school.

A town named Mystic Falls.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**A/N: So, this is the first chapter of my first Vampire Diaries story. I hope it's liked. This first chapter is just to give some background info on the relationship between Shane and Damon, it didn't want to spend too much time on the past. It's going to be mostly in Shane's POV. Though I may due one in Damon's so as to get inside his head a bit.**

**Now as for the looks in mind for my characters, the "casting" up to this point is as followed: **

**SHANE WESTON as Shannon Woodward MAGGIE WESTON**** Mary Elizabeth Winstead**** as LUKE as Robert James Hoffman III**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW.**

**JENNA**


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two****Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer:**** I hold no right to Vampire Diaries nor do I hold rights to the , I still love Damon. But he is not mine to own. ****:( Sad.**

School has been done for me for just about a year now and I was going to leave, move out to California. But there was something that kept me here, something that popped up about six months ago that I couldn't turn away from.

Just like everyone has someone enter their life who will change some aspect of how they live or do things, everyone also has a secret that no one else knows. My secret is one that has been kept in my family for years, at least the family that is from my mothers side. This family secret goes back over 200 years ago and starts in Mystic Falls. My mother's family was from all over, they were some of the first to settle in America. They ended up in Virginia, specifically Mystic Falls.

-----------

On my birth certificate it may say Shane Weston, but my mother's maiden name was Pierce and her great aunt was Katherine Pierce. Some time in the late 1700's Katherine went missing, her brother, Jacob, and other went searching for her but never found any sign. When everyone else gave up, Jacob, who would be a great grandfather, refused to give up on his sister. He looked for Katherine even after he was married and had both a daughter and a son. During the civil war, Jacob's search brought him and his family to Mystic Falls. At the time his children were grown, but his only son wanted to accompany his father and mother. Joshua wanted to find and meet his Aunt Katherine as much as his father wanted to find his sister. It wasn't until the family was settled in a new home and had been residents for about three weeks that Jacob first saw Katherine. The first time he saw her, he thought it was just a hallucination of sorts since the young girl her saw was just that. A _young_ girl, not a woman with whitening hair. It wasn't until the third time he saw this girl that he decided to approach her. He was beyond shocked to find out the young woman, who pull him off to the side out of the sight of the other towns people, was his younger sister. Katherine trusted her brother, told him everything; told him how she had been attacked on her walk home the night she vanished, how she had been very hungry, how at first she refused to kill a person, then how she began to love the thrill of the hunt. Jacob gapped at his sister as she told him the truth about the vampire stories he had heard in more then one town. He was surprisingly okay with the fact that his sister was now a vampire, he had feared she was dead but then he came to find that she was anything but. She was now stronger and fast then anything he had ever known. It fascinated him. He let everything return to normal, only telling his son the truth about Katherine. He loved his wife very much, but she had heard that there was a hunt going on in the town or at the very least everyone was very alert. If she were to find out that Katherine was one of these "monsters" everyone was in search of then, he feared, she may expose Katherine for what she was.

For awhile all was well, Katherine was staying under the radar, careful to watch what she did with the bodies of her victim and where she choose them from. Suddenly, Jacob noticed Katherine's high interest in these two local young men. Two brothers. They seemed very fond of her but both seemed to be fine with the fact that their brother was involved with the same woman. Jacob just kept a distance for awhile until he noticed the older of the two brothers acting very different then he normally would. She had be show a great disrespect toward his father, refusing to listen to something he was told. He was always running to Katherine for everything, it was as if he needed to be near her. When Jacob confronted his sister she simply stated the she was just having a bit of fun and she didn't want the brother fighting and ruining her fun. She said that she was using something she called compulsion, with it she was able to manipulate how one's mind worked. Jacob told her it was wrong, that she had no right to control how someone thought or felt. Katherine threw her brother into a tree, breaking his arm.

After that, there isn't too much information in the journal that Jacob Pierce kept. It did say that with the help of a local witch, Jacob trapped Katherine in a tomb making sure to protect well enough with both magic and assigned guards to ensure Katherine was never released. There weren't guards there 24/7, just patrols when it was believed that there was a threat in the area.

Since then, any decedents of Jacob Pierce have made an effort to at least stay in Virginia and within a couple of hours of Katherine's tomb and Mystic Falls. It turned out that just as I was about to move on, sure that there wasn't going to be any issues and if there were Maggie would still be near, it looked like there was at least one vampire back in Mystic Falls. I received a phone call from Charles Lockwood informing me of what he and the other founding families fear. So I stayed, giving my sister and Luke the heads up. Just in case.

-----------

It's been six months now and there have yet to be any attempts to open Katherine's tomb, which is good. But there have been signs of something in the area, which is bad. Especially since all signs point to vampires, the way all the victims have marks on their neck in generally the same spot and how they're almost totally drained of blood. Most of the town believes that they victims were attacked by a wild animal, which in a sense they're right. But these animals are more dangerous then a bear or anything else you'd run into in the woods. They're smart, fast, and tend to be extremely charming. And the worst part is it could be anyone, but if you pay attention to everyone and take note of those you don't see in the day and only see at night. But you can't keep your eye on everyone. Being here, watching everyone that I can't for six months, I haven't seen one person when the sun goes down that I don't see in the daylight.

I decided to do some scouting in the park one day, try to find someone with something out of the ordinary. It was two hours of me sitting on an uncomfortable, wooden bench, pretending to read a book and not look like some random creep, before I saw anything little thing that could mean something. This girl came walking through the park with a guy. The two of them laughed together, looking very much in love. I watched them and couldn't shake the feeling I was getting, like I had seen her before. Then it hit me, she looked exactly like the picture of Katherine that was kept in Jacob's journal. There was not possible way that it was the real Katherine, but this girl looked so much like her. I would have thought that is she was realized to her in anyway I'd know, but there was not other explanation.

I needed to met her, find out who she was. I stood from the bench and walk toward the couple, thinking of what to do to introduce myself and get her name.

"Um, excuse me. Hi, I'm Shane," I put out my hand and the both accepted it. "Weston. Could one of you point me in the direction of the library? I'm a little new to the town and I'm still trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B without ending up is some residential area, leaving all the businesses."

The girl smile, looking very willing to help. "I'm Elena Gilbert and this is my boyfriend Stephen Salvatore. We're actually headed to the library now, we both have a history paper due so we were going to do some research to do. You're welcome to join us."

"Stephen Salvatore?" Me head snapped when Elena said Stephen Salvatore. That was Damon's last name and Damon had a brother named Stephen.

Stephen looked at me confused. "Yes, do I know you."

My heart was racing. "Oh, no. But, um you don't have a brother do you?"

Again, Stephen seemed to be at a loss wondering how I knew about his brother. "Yes I do. My brothers name is Damon. I'm sorry are you sure I don't know you? Or at least that you know me?"

I shook my head. "No, no. I don't know you, only of you I guess. I knew your brother I think. I-I'm sorry I have to go, thank you very much for offering to show me how to get to the library Elena."

"Oh, um yeah sure. No problem. Hey maybe we can get a coffee sometime, I can show you around town a bit." Elena looked genuinely concerned and Stephen just looked worried.

"Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you around then." I gave the two of them a smile and walked off.

If Damon's brother was in town, did that mean Damon was here too? Were they living in the same house? What was I going to do if I saw Damon? I may have been okay with his leaving but that was only because there were starting to be signs of a vampire in town and with him gone, he was safe. I was no where near over him.

So now I had a few problems. Number one, vampires. I knew they were around but couldn't find them. I had no way to find them. Number two, if vampires were in town then they could be trying to find a way to break Katherine out of her tomb. And my biggest problem? Salvatore. I didn't know how close the Salvatore brothers were, but with Stephen in Mystic Falls the chance of Damon popping up were very high.

I had too much on my plate, too much pressure. I wasn't sure how I'd handle seeing Damon again.

I really wish I moved out west _right_ after graduation. Why did I have to wait and get trapped here?

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

**A/N: Chapter two done. Some more background info. I had to make there be some sort of drama pulled into this. Shane being a sort of vampire hunter type and Damon being a vampire, if that's not drama I don't know what is. Have you seen Buffy? How much drama was in that show? A similar idea here. Man I love Ian Somerhalder, he has a pretty smile and pretty eyes. :b I love him, almost as much as I love Garrett Hedlund. Almost. :D**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW.**

**JENNA**


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**** Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer:**** I do NOT own the rights to the characters in Vampire Diaries. They are in no way mine.**

**NOTE:**** I'd like just let anyone who his reading this know that this is based off of the show featured on The CW, not the books specifically. I haven't yet read them due to a bad recommendation however I am going to start to read them. Also I would like to apologize for two things. The first is the name of Shane's cousin in chapter one-it is Luke, NOT Josh. I didn't like the name josh for him and changed it, I thought I had fix the whole chapter but I had apparently missed some. The second thing is the misspelling of Stefan's name in the last chapter. It is 'A-N' and I had put 'E-N' and there is no 'PH' in it either. My fail.  
**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

Drama. I've always tried SO hard to keep it out of my life as much as I possibly could and for the most part I had succeed. There have only been a few times where I wasn't able to control the amount of drama that came into my life. Really only two times; when my parents died and also when Damon came into my life. When my parents died there was drama for obvious reasons, lots of mourning and my extended family worrying about their will. When I had first met Damon, everything was fine. Normal even. Then Luke noticed me hanging out at the bar more often, then Damon hanging out with me outside the bar. For a while the two of us were just hanging out as friends but Luke had just assumed there was more going on. So that kicked off all the drama, then of course when Damon and I _did_ start dating all hell broke loss.

It started to settle down, just as Damon had said it would, after about six months. Everyone realized that there wasn't going to be anything that they could say that would get me away from Damon. I was stubborn, very stubborn. Damon once told me that he loved how free willed I was and I fought for what I wanted, he said it reminded him of someone but would never say who. I never thought that I fought too hard, I didn't start fighting for art school until after I met Damon.

Everything with Damon and me was going extremely well, we were together for almost two years. Then, a month before my 18th birthday, I was on my way to meet Damon at his apartment. I walked up to the second floor, knocked on the door, but there was no answer and the door was unlocked. I walked in to find nothing. There wasn't a single piece of furniture or pile of clothes on the floor where they would normally be. He was gone and didn't say a word, didn't leave a note, or a message of any kind.

Of course, when Luke found out about Damon's vanishing act he wanted to kill him. Kept going on about how wrong it was for him to just disappear like he did, that he should have told me he was going to leave. Luke was worried about me and so was Maggie. They both expected me t crumble and fall apart, for some reason thinking I was a typical "love struck" high school girl. I'm not the kind of girl to pine over anyone or anything, I get over things quickly. I never saw the point to harping on anything, it won't make it better and it won't make it go away.

But with Damon gone, the drama that had entered my life vanished like he did. I couldn't say anything to anyone, but I was more relieved when I found out he was gone. There were a couple deaths in the area where the victims necks had marks. The media informed people that it was a wild animal and that it would be caught shortly. My family was the only ones who know what it really was. But we didn't have to worry to much about it, who ever it was must have been just passing through. There were only the two bodies and nothing happened after Damon was gone. I was worried about his safety, in fact I had been staying at his apartment a few nights a week to make sure he was okay. It's weird to think that I was trying to protect him, and anyone who saw and knew Damon would understand. He didn't need the protecting usually, the was the protector. Either way, he was gone and so were the signs of vampires.

The only thing I worry about is whether or not they followed him or attacked him, there was no sign of attack and if they did why would they take his stuff.

None of it mattered now though. I had just seen his brother and Stefan didn't talk about him like he was dead. He was more confused then anything, like he knew who I was but never expected to see me. Almost worried that I'd end up bumping into Damon somewhere. As I walked a way from Stefan and Elena, I saw him lean over and whisper something to Katherine's look-a-like and I couldn't help but wonder what he said.

I stared to make my way back home, passing a bar. I decided to take a little detour and entered the bar, walking in I felt right at home. I went straight to the counter, sitting down in a stool on the far end opposite the door, ordering a beer. I felt like I need to unwind and just clear my head, sort something out if there was something to sort out. In my head I began to imagine what would happen if Damon and me where to see each other, but I shook it out of my head because it seemed like I was dwelling on what happened. There was no denying the fact that I missed him and I wanted to see him again, I wanted him back, I wanted to yell and scream at him, to shovel him and smack him, and to have his arms around me again. But I couldn't think about it. If I did see him, I'd deal with that when it happened. For now I just wanted to enjoy my beer.

I sat at the bar for about two hours, only having two beers in that time. I looked over at the door for a brief moment to see Elena walking in with another girl who had darker skin. Elena looked over at me and smile, making her way over after saying something to her friend.

"Hey, Shane right." I just smiled and nodded, not really in the mood to say too much. "Are you okay, you seemed a little freaked out earlier?"

I took a final sip of my beer before I answered her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just…Had a weird moment meeting Stefan."

Elena shifter her weight, leaning on the bar. "So, you an Damon?" I nodded in response. "For how long?"

"Two years, plus or minus."

"Wow, I mean I've met Damon and he just doesn't seem like the commitment type to me. He's not really a bad guy, most people here don't really seem to trust him much though. He's always just seems…Lost or something."

"Lost? What do you mean?" That got my attention.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. He's just really distant, Stefan says he didn't used to be like that though. Damon seems to prefer to cause trouble or harass people. He'll flirt with one girl then in a flashes he's talking up a different one with the first girl two feet away. Then there's Stefan and me." I raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to elaborate. "He'll constantly just walk in the room and stay for awhile or invite himself to come with us on any dates we go on. Like he doesn't want to see his brother happy if he's not."

I heard a tone in Elena's voice, one that said 'Why did you leave Damon?'. For get no drama, it was coming. I was pissed. "Stop. Stop right there, okay? Don't stand there and talk like you know _anything_ about Damon. And _don't_ sit there and judge me when we _just_ met a few hours ago. Has Damon said anything about me at all?"

"No, but Stefan-"

"No, I don't give a _shit_ what Stefan said. He doesn't really know either. And it's none of your business, is it? What are you trying to do, _fix_ Damon? He is who he is, if he's a miserable bastard or seems _lost_ it's his own fault! I didn't leave him, Elena." I stood up and took a few steps away, fearing I might hit her. "He left me. Just packed his shit and left."

"Shane, I'm sorry. I just thought with the way he is and then finding out that you and him-"

"That I fucked him over and ditched him? Never assume anything Elena." With that I turned my back to her and walked out the door.

Outside, I took a deep breath of air, closing my eyes, to calm myself. I leaned back against the brick wall and crouched down, putting my fingers through my hair. My heart was pounding in my chest and to be honest I wasn't really sure why. Yeah I had just flipped out on Elena, but why was my heart pumping so hard? Then it dawned on me, I had just let out years of anger and frustration I never realized I was holding in. I never really thought about Damon leaving, never let it get to me because the way I've always seem the world is that there are things that just happen; some you can stop and some there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

After another moment, my heart wasn't beating so hard. I took another deep breathe and started to walk toward my apartment. As I was walking I thought I heard something ahead of me, so I slowed my pace a little waiting to see if there was anything or anyone around. Just as I walked up to the alley on my right, a shadow was cast on the wall. When I stepped closer, I felt a pair of hand grab my arm and pull me into the alley and I was slammed against the brick wall. I threw my right fist at my attacker only to have if grabbed in his hand, giving him more leverage making it easier to twist it around my back.

The front of my body was now against the building in front of me. Just as I had started to calm down from my confrontation with Elena, I was now filled with more adrenalin and anger then before. Unfortunately this guy was _a lot_ stronger then me and definitely had the upper hand. I had to figure out a way out of this, or who knew what was going to end up happening to me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**A/N: Lameish ending. But yeah, wasn't 100% sure how I wanted to do this part, you'll see what I mean in the next chapter.  
This one seems really short too... Or is that just me?**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW.**

**JENNA**


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four****Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer:**** I do NOT own the rights to the characters in Vampire Diaries. They are in no way mine.**Lucky for me I had been trained in hand to hand combat, if I could take on a vampire and get away, I could take on a normal human. I planted my left foot on the ground, using my right to push myself away from the wall. I gave myself a second before I slammed my head back, connecting with my attackers nose. I smile with the satisfaction that I had hit him. I felt his grip loosen just enough for me to be able to turn the arm that he held and take hold of his wrist. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and yanked him to my right, spinning around to kick him in the side. But before my foot hit him I watched his hands fly out and grab them.

I braced myself for the next hit, but it never came. He just laughed, putting my leg down. He took a few steps back, the light from behind illuminating him and revealing his identity. "I'm not sure that's the proper way to great someone you haven't seen for year."

Damon. I never expected to see him here, I should have since his brother was in Mystic Falls, but it never occurred to me that I'd run in to him. I shook off my shock and responded to his comment. "Well, I'm not sure how _proper _it is to grab someone and yank them into an alley." I glared at him, suddenly furious with him. The small amount of anger I let out on Elena inside the bar was now being redirected toward the proper person. Even if I had thought that his disappearing didn't phase me when it had happened.

"Oo, feisty. Where is all this hostility coming from?" He just smiled.

I rolled my eyes at him, taking a step closer with my arm crossed. "You're kidding right? You dragged me into an alley, I can't even begin to understand why the _hell_ you'd do that. Then there's that whole, you just disappearing without a trace thing. But that's a totally different story."

Finally his cocky smile dropped. "That…Wasn't supposed to happen. I had to leave, there was an…Emergency."

"With Stefan?"

Damon tilted his head to the side and looked at me confused. "Stefan? How do you know about Stefan?"

"Oh, right cause you had forgotten to say anything about your having a _brother_, so I shouldn't know who Stefan is. I bumped into him and his girlfriend Elena, heard his last name, asked about you."

"You asked him about me? What did you say?" Damon seemed paniced.

"Nothing, just said that I knew you." Damon let out a breath. "What?"

"Nothing. Stefan and me…we…just don't really get along all the time."

"What a surprise, two siblings not getting along. Oh my god! Call the new stations I think this could be the next _big_ news story!"

He smirked a little. "Cute." After that he didn't say anything for a moment after that.

We stood in the dim lit alley, him just staring at me and me trying to stare at anything _but_ him. I had caught his small smirk though. I loved his smirk. Loved his smile too, he has a gorgeous smile but I just love his smirk. It's not the normal smart-ass, cocky one he'd flash when he was proven right. There's something hidden there when it's him and me.

After another moment of silence Damon spoke, taking me out of my thoughts. "You won't look at me."

"What?" I tried, and failed, to act like I hadn't been trying to avoid looking right at him.

"You haven't really looked at me once since we've been out here. I get that I'm not your favorite person in the world, but do you really hate me that much where you won't even look me in the eyes?"

I finally looked up at him. Gorgeous as ever, his eye looked like ice even in this dark lighting. His beautiful blue-gray eyes stared back at me and they looked…hurt. He really thought that I hated him, I wanted nothing more then to run into his arms. I dreamed about him holding me in his arms again, here I had the opportunity but I stayed where I was. He was the one who left, he was the one who was going to half to come to _me_, not the other way around.

"I don't _hate_ you Damon. I just…" I didn't have words to finish, I didn't know _how_ to finish.

"You just what, Shane?" He spoke softly, really trying to figure me out, or at least what I was really thinking.

I shook my head, knowing that the words that were about to come out weren't the ones I wanted him to hear. "Nothing, Damon. Never mind. I…have to go." I went to turn to leave, but he stared to follow me out of the alley.

"Shane, talk to me. Come on, just say what's in your head. Finish your sentence."

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. "Stop Damon, go…find someone else to harass."

"But I don't want to harass anyone but you Shane." I could practically hear his smile when he spoke. He picked up his pace and came up next to me, matching my steps.

I shook my head at him, unable to help the smile that crept up on my face. "Go away."

"Ah, you say that but you don't really mean it. That smile on your faces says it all."

I glanced at him briefly the looked back ahead. "You're an idiot."

"Oh yeah? Then how come I got you to stop telling me to go away?" I slowed down and just looked at him, unable to really say anything because he was right. "See. I know what I'm doing and I know _you_ Shane. Better then anyone else."

"You haven't seen me in years, Damon. How sure are you that you still really know me?"

"I know you well enough to know that there is something that you _want_ to say but won't." I stayed silent. "Something that you were going to say in the alley back there, but didn't." He raised his eyebrows, expecting me to say something. "No, nothing? Come on Shane." Again he waited for me to speak up, but I stayed quiet and just kept walking.

Damon stopped and grabbed my wrist gently, I tried to pull it away but he just grabbed the other one making me face him. "Damon, let." I said calmly.

"Tell me what you were going to say back there and I will. Come on Shane, talk to me. You just what? Tell me."

I let out a sigh of defeat, knowing he wasn't going to give in. He never gave in. "I just missed you, okay. There I said it, are you happy now can I go home?"

I barely got the last words out before his mouth found mine, he stepped forward making me step back until my back was pressed against the brick wall. He let go of my wrist, putting one hand on the side of my neck and the other on my waist. My eyes fell shut and my one hand gripped the side of his shirt and the other was pressed flat against his chest.

Damon Salvatore. The only man I have ever know that can make me crack.

* * *

**A/N: New chapter, yeah. Not much to say, sorry for the mad delay. Work has been eating my soul.**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW.**

**JENNA**


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

**Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer:**** I do NOT own the rights to the characters in Vampire Diaries. They are in no way mine.**

I was lost, unable to recognize anything that was around us, including the people walking past. It didn't matter, nothing mattered at that moment. There was just Damon and there was me, once again it was just the two of us. Damon had my entire body sandwiched between the brick wall and his hard a stone body. I felt his cool hand pushing up my shirt just a fraction, the pads of his fingers lightly touched my waist. The faint touch sent a shiver up my spine. I removed the grasp I had on his shirt, bringing it to the side of his neck then up a bit more to the back of his head.

It was only a few minutes, but our embrace seemed to last forever. I was the one to push away, some how able to gather my thoughts enough to realize that making out with my ex-boyfriend, who was good at disappearing, wasn't the best idea. As soon as he felt a little pressure on his chest, he pulled back. Loved that about him, as soon as I said no he said okay with out much question. He smirk, putting his forehead to mine with his eyes closed.

"Too much?" He asked me, without opening his eyes.

I tried to nod with his head pressed against mine, didn't work out so well. "No…I mean yeah but it's not that. It's just…weird."

"Hm…Didn't feel weird to me."

I put both hand on his chest, pushing him back. "No, of course not." I smirked at him and started to walk down the street toward my apartment.

He was quick to follow, jogging up to my side with his hand inside the pockets of his leather jacket. "And what does that mean? I think things are weird." He looked at me for a second then looked back ahead of us. "I think my brother's weird."

I couldn't help but laugh. "That doesn't count, you know what I mean. Damon I haven't seen you in like 3...4 years because you had an "Emergency" and had to leave without saying anything to anyone, not even me. But now you want to make out in the middle of the street like nothing has ever changed."

"Technically we were on the sidewalk so…"

I just shook my head. "Shut up, you get where I'm going with this."

Damon sighed. "Unfortunately I do. Basically…Too fast, you need to think things over. Am I right?" I just nodded. "Okay, but how much thinking do you need?"

"I don't know…What makes you think I even want to start anything with you again anyway?"

Damon took a few quick step to get in front of me, then he turned around putting his hands to the side of my face. His lips touched mine again and it was electric. He pulled back, smile. "If you had no intention of getting involved with me in ANY way you wouldn't let me do that. You'd walk around me, shove me, punch me, something." I just stared blankly at him. "Like I said before Shane. I know you better then anyone, I'm the only one that can really read you and get it right."

I rolled my eyes and moved around him. "So what if you're right? What if _**I **_want to get back together, do you?"

"Of course." He spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Really?"

He smiled lightly, nodding his head. "Yes, really. Shane, in my life there have only been two women who I was so in love with I'd do absolutely ANYTHING to be with them. The one, turned out to…not feel the same as me. But the other…She is this amazing woman, strong, smart, funny, beautiful. She's perfect, but I fucked up. I took off, saying nothing. Shane you being here is the second shot I never thought I'd get."

I looked to my right, smiling at Damon. "Damon, that's…sweet."

"Shut up, see now I thought I'd tell you this and maybe you _wouldn't_ mock me but you know, whatever."

"I'm sorry, really I am. I'm just not used to you being so…open. You don't do that."

"No. Not normally, or well ever. I just want you to know that I swear that I want to try again. Promise I won't wander off and not say anything. Scouts honor."

I glared at him. "You were never a boy scout."

He just shrugged. "Eh, who really is anymore, it's just an expression."

"There are plenty of boy scouts! Half this town was a boy scout at one time or a girl scout."

"What are you doing a survey or something? Taking a poll of the scouts of Mystic Falls?"

Damon and I bickered a bit longer then just talked about what ever was on our mind. He ended up walking me to my apartment door.

"So…I'm going to go inside now. Go to sleep."

Damon nodded. "Yeah, it's late."

"Thanks for walking me home." I felt like a 16 year-old school girl talking to the hottest senior in school. It felt almost like one of those bad date movies.

"To be far, I didn't really intend or mean to walk you home. Just sort of happened. But you're welcome."

"Ass."

"Hey, I'm being honest."

I rolled my eyes and turned to unlock my door. "Good night Damon."

He reached out and lightly grasped my wrist. "Wait. Will I see you tomorrow?"

I thought about it for a moment, I wanted to see him but wasn't sure if it was the best idea. "Um…Yeah, sure."

" 'Yeah sure'? Okay I'll take it, I'm gonna split now before you change your mind." He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Night."

He turned and walked back down the hall, I just stood in my now open doorway for a minute. "I wonder if this is going to be a good idea."

"Wonder if what is going to be a good idea?"

I let out a short scream as someone spoke from within my living room. I flipped the switch, turning the ceiling fan light on. "Jesus Christ, Mags you scared the _hell_ out of me!"

My sister, Maggie, stood up from the couch laugh at me. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you Shane, I swear."

She was still laughing and smile when I closed the door after making sure Damon didn't come running back seeing why I screamed. I walked over to the counter in the kitchen, taking off my jacket and laying it on the stool. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"You told me there was a situation here. Remember?"

I thought for a minute, back to when I was going to leave Mystic Falls. "That was like…a month ago."

Maggie shrugged. "Better late then never."

"Whatever, there isn't a situation anymore. At least not from what I can tell."

"Oh really? Then tell me something Shane, why is John Gilbert here?"

"John Gilbert is here? Just because John's here doesn't mean there's some vampire out break. His niece and nephew _do_ live here you know."

Maggie nodded. "Yeah, you told me there was two young Gilbert's in town. But that's not why John's here, he's never been the kind of person to visit family."

"Okay, if he's not here to see his family then why is he here?"

Maggie shook her head. "I don't know, but I think it has something to do with Isobel."

* * *

**A/N: Woo! Yay, another update (: Go me. I hope you like it, again this is a story based of the TV Show not the book thought I have read the books, not all of them…But…Yeah. I hope you like Damon being all open. I love Damon, especially With Ian playing him…Ian is hot. Love that man!**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW! =D**

**JENNA**


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six****Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer:**** I do NOT own the rights to the characters in Vampire Diaries. They are in no way mine.**I whipped around to look at my sister. "Isobel? What about her?"

Maggie just shrugged. "I don't know for sure. It's just this feeling I have, I wanted to tell you in person so you know to be on the look out."

I tried to not seemed freaked out, I turned back around so that I didn't have to face Maggie and I could collect my thoughts. "Why would I care? It's not like I'm worried." That was a lie.

"Really? If I were you and my last meeting with some went as bad as your last meeting with Isobel went I sure as hell would be worried."

"Well, you're not me. I'm fine, besides she doesn't scare me. She didn't when I was a kid and she sure as hell doesn't now." Another lie, the idea of Isobel being anywhere near me scared the hell out of me.

"Mm-hm. Sure. So the fact that Isobel might want to kill you if you run into her doesn't scare you at all?"

"Oh with out a doubt she's going to kill me next time she sees me, but no it doesn't scare me. I've seen things worse then her." But none of the things I saw were a cousin turned vampire with a grudge against me.

* * *

My cousin Isobel had be turned into a vampire three years ago, not because a vampire was board though. She had dated John Gilbert in high school and he was the one who told her about vampires. Unlike Maggie and myself who had know about vampire from the time we were about nine or ten, Isobel's parents, well her mom anyway, had decided not to let her be apart of who our family is. My dad wasn't all that happy that his sister was going to ignore the family history but understood that she wanted a life with out monsters.

Isobel developed a strong interest in the vampire legends that were out there, reading everything she could; books, magazines, internet resources, you name it she read it. Even fiction book by Ann Rice or those teen ones like Twilight, Blue Bloods, and Vampire Academy. She watched all the movie she could find. She became obsessed, even when she married her college boyfriend Alaric Saltzman her desire to know _everything_ about the night creatures didn't go away. She needed to know more and as the days and months went by, being married and having a normal life wasn't good enough. Books and movies were obsolete to her, she wanted to take it a step further.

At some point she met a vampire and was turn, she told us she it took a little bit of bragging but it happened. It was Maggie, Luke, and I who found her in the woods over the body of some innocent man. We had guns aimed at her but she knew no one would take a shot. Except I did. Not one of my greatest ideas, but wasn't my cousin anymore. The Isobel I knew was gone, there was absolutely no humanity left in her. The hardest part about her turning though, was not being able to tell Rick she was alive…Kind of.

* * *

I woke up the next morning, after getting _maybe _two hours of sleep, to find my sister no longer in my apartment. There was no sign that she was ever there in the first place, I hadn't notice if she had a bag with her or not and she never said she was staying. I wander into my small kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee to get myself to actually wake up. As I filled the coffee pot with water there was a bang at the door that made me jump. I was so on edge after seeing my sister that I actually dropped the glass pot and it shattered into a bunch of pieces, luckily it smashed in the sink and nothing got on the floor. I sighed and groaned, leaving the glass for the moment to answer the door.

I opened the door to find an alert Damon standing outside. "Is everything okay? I heard something break."

Seeing him put a smile on my face, rather then wanting to yell at the person who made me break my only source of caffeine I wanted to just jump into his arms and tell him everything. "I'm fine, promise." My lies continue. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and just wasn't expecting anyone this early in the morning. You just startled me, that's all. Come on in."

I moved to the side and Damon stepped inside, smirking at me and kissing my cheek lightly. He walked over into the kitchen and found the shattered glass. "You got _startled_ and broke your coffee pot?"

I leaned on the wall near the counter with my arms across my chest. "Yes. You banged on the door, I jumped. I lost my grip. The pot fell. The pot broke. Anymore questions?"

"Wow, you get snippy in the morning."

"No." I pushed off the wall, walking past him. "I get snippy when I don't get any coffee in the morning."

Damon grabbed my elbow gently and spun me around, putting his lips to mine briefly then pulled back, putting his hands on my waist. "So lets get you some coffee."

I smiled lightly, removing his hands from my waist. "Good, I just gotta go get dress." I turned to go back to my room, through on a pair of worn in jeans and grabbed a zip-up sweat shirt to wear over my tank-top. I walked back out five minutes later, grabbing my keys and going to the door. "Let's go."

Damon stepped out after me, closing the door behind him and falling in step beside me as we walked down the hall. "So, what's got you so on edge?"

"I'm not on edge. What would make you think I am?"

I heard him let out a short laugh. "Because a knock on the door scared you enough where you dropped a glass pot and it shattered. Tell me what's up."

I sighed lightly, shaking my head, "It's nothing, just family…Drama. Something that I did or tried to do just might come back to bite me in the ass."

As we walked out the front of my building he stopped in front of me. "Is everything going to be okay?" Damon looked at me, eyes full of concern.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm sure everything will be fine."

"_I'm sure everything will be fine_ doesn't seem too reassuring to me."

I just shrugged and began to walk again. "I don't know what you want me to say."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Just tell me that you'll ask me for help _when_ you need it. Please?"

I smiled. "Of course. But like I said, everything will be fine."

"So basically, right now I just have to trust what you're telling me is the truth?"

"You shouldn't have a problem _trusting_ anything I tell you. I never took off on you."

I looked over at him and saw a small frown. "You're never going to let me live that down are you?" Damon said glancing at me.

"I will," I took his hand in mine, leaning on his left shoulder as we walked. "Just not yet. Give it another day or so. Promise."

He lean down a little, kissing the top of my head. "You're just so mean to me."

"Hey you're just lucky I'm giving you your second chance mister. I'm not that mean to you."

Damon laughed lightly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. You didn't have to let me back in you're life." I looked up at him as we rounded a corner, to see him smiling.

"Are you ever going to wipe that grin off your face?"

He shook his head. "Not for awhile."

I rolled my eyes, wrapping my arms around his waist as we walk. I felt his left arm move around my shoulders pulling me close to him. "You know, I honestly don't even understand why I'm doing this. I mean why I'm hanging out with you so soon after seeing you after your disappearing act."

"Cause you love me. And because I'm just so incredibly irresistible you can't stay away."

I laughed. "Oh right that."

We walked in a comfortable silence for a few more minutes, until we heard someone from behind us speak.

"Well isn't that just _adorable_."

I stopped dead, forcing Damon to do the same. He looked behind us and froze, but I wasn't sure why at that moment it didn't even matter. The voice that spoke to belonged to someone I was _not _look forward to hearing for a _long_ time.

I slowly turned around to meet the face that I had been dreading to see again for the last three years. "Isobel."

She smile devilishly at me. "Hello Shane. It's been awhile."

"Not long enough."

I heard her laugh lightly, but it wasn't a happy or joking laugh. She looked at me with Deadly eyes. "Oh, no is that anyway to speak to your cousin?"

"Cousin?" Damon spoke for the first time since Isobel appeared.

Her eyes moved from me to Damon. "Hello again Damon. I almost for got you were there. Tell Damon, does my little cousin there know your secret?"

I looked up to Damon, confused. "Secret…What secret?" Damon hesitated. He never hesitates.

* * *

**A/N: Updated again! I think I like this chapter. Some of the dialogue makes me smile. I hope it's liked by all. I'll try to update again soon! Thanks for checking in!**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW! =D**

**JENNA**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

**Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me.

* * *

**

My mind was swimming, I could understand why or how Isobel would know who Damon was. Then there was mention of a "secret" that he obviously hadn't told me. I looked up at him waiting to see if he would answer, maybe his big secret was that he had a brother. If it was then I already knew that one, but I had a feeling that wasn't it. The way she spoke made it seem like something bigger.

"What secret?" I asked Damon, but he didn't respond. His body went ridged. "Damon. What secret is she talking about? Tell me."

"Yes Damon, tell her. If you won't maybe _I _should, us being family and all." An evil grin spread across her face. "And once she knows who you really are then she can tell you all about our family history. You know you two have one major thing in common, one _person _in common. Katherine."

"Knock it off Isobel. I'm _warning _you." Damon glared at her; he looked like he was going to rip off her head. I almost wished he could.

"What are you going to do to me Damon? You've already done the worst thing in your power you can do to someone. Well beside death. You know Shane; I thought you would have gotten the hints by now. Are you _really _that blinded by your love for him that you can't see what he is?"

She said "**what**" not "**who**", that wasn't good. I just stared at her, unable to find words to say to her.

"Leave her **_alone _**Isobel." Damon's voice was almost a growl when he spoke.

"We have unfinished business, me and her." Isobel brought her hand up, inspecting her finger nails. "Why don't we go back to that common factor named Katherine?"

I shook my head. "What does she have to do with _anything_?"

"Oh she has _everything _to do with this. You should be showing more respect for her, after all she is your Great Aunt, now I'm sure there are one or two more **greats **in there but you get the idea. And you know, really it's not much of a surprise that Damon would fall for seeing how he had fallen for her."

"What?" I looked from Isobel to Damon, taking a step back removing myself from his hold. "That's not possible. She's lying _right _Damon?"

Damon didn't speak; he just averted his eyes looking away from me. "Go on Damon. Tell her the truth. Tell her I'm not the one who's lying but you've been since the day the two of you met. Tell her that you actually already _know _all about her and what our family does. That you found out about it all just before you had decided to tell her what you are! Tell her how _Katherine _came to you that one night 145 years ago and gave you a way to be with her her forever." I stared at Damon; his lack of a response was all I need to know that Isobel was telling the truth. "Tell her what you did to me. I may have had to beg you but you still did it." She took slow careful steps towards me.

"That's enough Isobel." Damon's voice didn't sound as strong; it was almost the voice of a broken man.

Isobel walked right up to me, leaning in to whisper into my ear. "He's the one I went to Shane. Damon made me what I am today. Made me into what _he _is, what his _brother _is. A vampire."

It felt like I had been punched in the gut. Damon had lied to me for years, he didn't just leave. He was something that my family had been trying to take down or at the very least control since Katherine roamed the earth. I had loved him, I was still in love with him but how could I now? I know what others like him have done, what I'm sure he's done. I staggered back a few steps, hitting the wall behind me. "Why couldn't _you _have told me? Why did you have to let _her _be the one to say something to me?"

"You would have tried to kill me." Damon's voice was low and sad. He still didn't look at me.

I shook my head. "No. I wouldn't have. You would have been safe Damon." He finally looked at me.

"You're **_kidding _**me, right? You tried to kill **_me _**but you won't kill **_him_**? I'm family for Christ sake!"

"Yeah, family that tried to kill me and my sister and her own brother! Damon never tried to kill me or hurt me in any way! I have no reason to want to kill him or to try and kill him."

The three of us were silent for a moment until some more people started to come out of their own homes to go out for the day. Isobel glared at the people around us, seeing them as intruders, they had ruined her plans not that she would have been able to kill me anyway. Not with Damon there.

"I have to leave you both for now; it's been nice chatting with you. I hope we can get together again _really _soon. Especially you and me Shane, I have some more things to discuss with you that might be better talked about in _private_. Without Damon of course, it's been awhile and i think we need some girl talk. And to catch up on old times, you can tell me how Luke's been. I hear Maggie's in town too or at least she was, maybe she can come along too. It'd be fun to get out, just us girls." Isobel smiled and began to walk away down the street. She put her arm up, waving bye. "I'll be seeing you Shane, real soon."

It all sounded so innocent to anyone walking by, but that was the whole point. She was always good at making things look better than they actually were. It would seem that she was getting better. That was the most natural sound lie I had ever heard from anyone person. But it wasn't all a lie, there was a hidden meaning behind it all that no one, not even Damon, knew but he could take a good guess.

I stood on the side walk, leaning against the wall; just stare in the direction Isobel went. It was too much, Maggie had just told me the night before that she was somewhere in the area. Now I have to run into her on my way out, wonder if she's going to take me out then and there, then she leaves with her threat hanging in the air. Worst of all she tells me that not only is Damon a vampire, but he turned her and he and Katherine were involved.

"Shane?" Damon took a step forward. "Shane is everything okay?"

I looked at him. "You are not _seriously _asking me that are you? Of course everything isn't okay. You _lied _to me for years, **_Isobel _**was the one who told me the truth when it should have been **_you _**no matter what my family does or has done in the past."

"I know and I'm sorry it didn't come from me. But what was I supposed to _do _Shane? I couldn't just come right out and say '_Hey you know how you like eating chips and stuff? Yeah well I you blood as my main source of food._' You would have freak, don't lie to yourself."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever Damon. You keep telling yourself that, maybe it'll become true."

"I saw the look on your face when Isobel told you Shane."

I glared at him. "I'm sorry, am I supposed to be **_perfectly _**level headed when someone tells me my **_boyfriend _**is a vampire? I was in shock okay? I wasn't going to go ballistic and kill you. You do realize that this isn't even the biggest problem I have right now? I have other things to worry about then you choice of food." I turned and started walking back to my apartment.

"What are you talking about?" Damon started to follow me.

"What do you mean? Did you not hear her? She's going to be coming after me, I can't tell my sister because she'll come here and then Isobel will kill her too. And Luke doesn't need to know this about his sister. I'm on my own with this, I have to watch my back every second until she finds me again, which won't be hard since she knows where I am."

"You could leave." It sounded like he was just asking me to leave, hoping it'd keep me safe.

"You mean **_run_**? No, that's not an option. I'll face her alone; I'll be fine."

"You won't be alone Shane, I'll be there. I'm stronger then she is, with me there she won't be able to touch you. Stephen can help too, we'll have back up."

"Right now Damon, I think you and I need some space."

I heard him Damon sigh. "You _are _freaked out."

"Okay, maybe a little. What do you want from me Damon? I spent my whole life learning ways to kill you. I need to think about things, if me and you were an 'Us' then I'd have to be hiding something about you from my family. I hate hiding things from my family, especially something like this. My cousin Luke isn't as forgiving or willing to over look what you are."

"Fine, but I can't leave you alone and you _know _that Shane. Not with Isobel here and so set on seeing you dead."

"No Damon, space mean you not being around me."

"Not when someone's out to kill you." Damon stopped, grabbing my arm and turning me to look at him. "Please Shane, I can stop her. Do you have any idea what it will do to me if I'm not there to get in her way when she comes after you?"

Guilt trip, nice. How does that work anyway? "Fine, but hands off; I mean it."

"Deal."

Damon followed me back to the apartment where I invited him in so he actually could come in, and then he reminded me not to invite Isobel in. Not that he even had to tell me that. We stayed in the rest of the day; I ordered pizza in the late afternoon while he called Stephen to tell him what was going on.

I still never got my coffee.

* * *

**A/N: You can all thank 10 hours at work for this quick update.**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW=D**

**-Jenna**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

**Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me. The character "Shane" is a creation of my own, basic personality based off of my own.**

* * *

It took practically no time for me to fall asleep, partly because I hadn't slept much the other night. The other part had to do with my vampire cousin hell bent on seeing me dead, then finding out that my ex-boyfriend ,who was slowly working to remove the 'ex' part, is a vampire himself. Not only is Damon a vampire but he is _the _vampire that turned my cousin into what she is now. It was a lot of information to take in in just one day, one morning really. Damon wanted to talk more about Isobel but I told him I wasn't up for it and that we'd talk in the morning. I didn't think it'd be first thing in the morning.

"Shane? Hey…come on we need to talk." I was partly awake now but refused to actually open my eyes, I felt the bed sink a little where he sat. "Come on Shane, you said we'd talking in the morning and it morning."

I let out a groan of annoyance and turned on to my stomach, burring my face in my pillow. "I said in the morning, as in when I walk up." My voice didn't come out clear or very addible, a normal person wouldn't have heard me. I didn't have to worry about that with Damon though, which bugged me still.

"Well, you are up. At least now."

I rolled to the sit so the front of my body was facing Damon, glaring up at him. "I'm only up because you came in and woke me up at what? 8 o'clock in the morning?"

"Hey you slept like 6 hours. That's a full night sleep."

"No, a full night sleep is about 8 hours. You do realize I only slept 3 hours the other night?"

Damon just shrugged. "Okay so those 3 hours plus the 6 you just got brings you to 9 hours which means you're up by 1 whole hour."

I sat up rolling my eyes. "That's 9 hours over _two_ days which isn't _nearly_ enough sleep to function right."

"I've seen you function on just 4 hours over three days just fine." Damon looked at me with a huge grin. "And I know how hard you were working those three days."

"Shut up. You're such a pig." I smile despite myself.

"What? I'm just saying I got to see how hard you were working first hand." I reached over and punched his arm. "What? It's not like I was complaining or anything, I was working just as hard." His grin seemed to get bigger and slier.

I shook my head, laughing lightly and shoving his shoulder. "Like I said, you're a pig." I put my hands on both of his shoulders and tried to push him off my bed. "No get o-"

My words were cut off when Damon took hold of my wrist and pull me close to him, pressing his lips against mine. My mind wanted me to push him away, he wasn't my favorite person in the world at the moment. But it was Damon, it was almost as if he could do no wrong. No matter what he had done or kept from me I still loved him more then I have ever loved another person and I wanted nothing more than to be what we once were.

My heart and my head were trying to tell me to do two different things. And like everything that had to do with Damon, my heart beat out what my head wanted me too do, which I knew was the most rational thing to do. But rather then push Damon away, I moved to wrap my arms around his neck pulling myself into his lay. Damon's left hand hooked under my bent knees while his right moved up my back. He stood briefly, picking me up then laying me back onto my bed with his body just above mine, his lips never leaving my own. His left hand made its way to the side of my face as he gently cradled it in his palm, his right was placed on my hip and I could feel the warm pads of his fingers tickle my the bare skin that was showing. My own hand started to push Damon's thin, black t-shirt while the other was laced through his thick, deep brown hair.

All of a sudden, some how my mind made a huge comeback and kick my hearts ass. I put my hands firmly on Damon's chest and shoved as hard as I was able to. His strength was more then I would have, my shove realistically did nothing but Damon moved away without protest.

"We can't be doing this Damon."

"You were fine with it a second ago." I glared at him. "Hey, don't. I'm not whining about it, I'm just curious to know what happened? You were all into it and then…you weren't."

I sat silent for a moment, he'd make fun of the whole mind and heart cliché. He sat, waiting patently for me to respond. "You wanted to talk and I want to know everything about what you are and how you became what you are. I'm assuming that's what you wanted to explain?" Damon just nodded. "I can't get anymore involved with you, at least until I know everything that you have to tell me."

"I get it. Are you sure you want to hear it all?"

I gave Damon a questioning look. "Why, do you not want to tell me everything?"

Now Damon was hesitating. "I want nothing more then to tell you everything but I what I _don't_ want is for you to hate me." I just continued to stare at him, waiting for him to talk more. "I have more involvement with your family then just turning Isobel, who begged me to do it swearing it was the only thing in the world that would make her life complete."

"I really don't care about that Damon. I mean, I do but not as much as you think I do. Isobel is a grown woman, if she wanted to be turned into her research that was her call. Just…tell me what you mean by having more involvement with my family besides turning Isobel."

"Right…Back in 1864, when I was still human, a young girl came here to Mystic Falls. After learning about the death of both her parents, my dad offered to take her in. She was beautiful, smart, funny, but she had a dark side the neither Stefan or I knew about from the very beginning. Without his knowledge, our father let a vampire live in his house for months. Even as he was hunting them down and seeking out the hiding places, he had one under his own roof and that _both_ his sons had fallen deeply in love with her." I sat with my back against the wall, feeling only a little weird that he was telling me a story about his ex. He looked up at me, staring into my eyes. "Shane, her name was Katherine."

I just shrugged not thinking anything of it. "So, that was a popular name back then. Still is actually, just different variations."

"Katherine _Pierce_."

It felt like my heart had stopped, like the entire world around me stopped. "Did you know my connection to her before we started dating?"

"I had an idea. I wasn't positive though. My only clues were that you looked similar to her, same eyes and smile and laugh, and that you had an attitude like her. You're fierce, strong willed, and you have a quick temper. I only just got confirmation yesterday when I found out Isobel was your cousin."

I looked away from Damon, confused and frustrated. Hear I was anything like that _bitch_ Katherine was not something I was happy about, yet it didn't surprise me we were related after all it was bound to happen. It still didn't make it any better. "You weren't attracted to be because of those similarities, were you?"

"I'll admit you're looks drew me in, but not because I saw Katherine in them. Shane the fact is, you're hot. Getting a closer look aloud me to see features Katherine had that you also did, but I didn't think it was possible so I never looked into anything that might connect you and her. I swear, being with you had nothing to do with her. In some ways you two are alike, but you are _not_ her and I would never want you to _be_ her. Yes I loved her, but nothing can compare to the love I feel for you. I don't feel like I'm an outcast vampire with a brother who pretty much hates him when I'm near you. I feel like I did in 1864. I feel alive, Shane. No one has _ever_ done that to me before. Katherine always made it feel as if we were working, conspiring to destroy anyone who planned to hurt her."

"What about the others? Didn't she care about their safety too? Weren't they like the closest thing to her family?"

Damon seemed to be surprised that I was having an interest in all this. It was my family history and the shock of him and her was wearing off incredibly quickly. "Honestly I would have thought so, but no. Really all she cared about was saving her own ass. By the time she was done, Stefan and I were left dead in the middle of the road and she was who knows were. We both thought she was thrown into the church and burned with the others, I even watch her get pushed in. But when the Tomb was opened she wasn't there, so she used someone to help her escape."

"So the Tomb was opened." I spoke more to myself then to Damon, I had been away when it all was supposed to have happened. I never knew if it actually happened or not and didn't have anyone to ask.

"Yeah, I'm sort of the one who opened it. With some help."

"What? Why would you do that?"

"I didn't it to get Katherine back, I thought I had lost you forever and she was here. At least she was supposed to be here, and I thought she loved me and that I still loved her. Turns out she didn't give a damn about me, I was just a toy she got board with."

I could see the pain in his eyes, he did love her. Whether he still did or not wasn't the point, she let him go 145 years thinking she was trapped or even dead. I hated her more, hated that she could hurt Damon like she clearly had. Most people wouldn't want to hear about a girl screwing over a guy they were into, but he was doing what I had asked. Telling me everything. Plus, how can I be angry with him for loving someone her knew well be fore I meet him?

"Don't think about her, she's clearly a bitch and doesn't deserve to be thought about by you or anyone else who might have cared for her. We shouldn't even talk about her, that's giving her too much recognition then she should be getting."

Damon smiled lightly, looking me in the eye. "You're being really…cool about hearing all this."

I just shrugged, picking at my blanket. "It's not the best news I've heard and not really want I want to hear, but Katherine is part of your past. No matter how much I'd love to be able to change that, I can't. Plus, if it weren't for her you and I never would have met. So she seems to be good for something, other then destroying the lives of the people she touches."

"So…you aren't mad?"

"If I was I'd be a real bitch. I'm not thrilled anything went on with the two of you, but I'm not mad and I'm certainly not mad at you."

"I'm glad." He really did look relieved…It was cute. "So…you think we could…" He mad a gesture, pointing from his self to me.

"Hm? Oh, yeah." I laughed, getting what he was trying to say. I reached forward, grabbing the front of Damon's shirt and laying back.

He grinned as our lips found one another again, letting out a deep laugh. "You move quick, don't you?"

"I can stop if you want."

"Oh know, it's fine. Quick is good."

"Yeah, you know all about quick don't you?"

"Oh, you little brat!" Damon grabbed my sides, tickling me.

I let out string after string of relentless laughter, pleading with him to stop. We ended up in a harmless wrestling match that ended up on the floor, with me on top pinning his arms above his head. Damon brought his head up, kissing me lightly.

"You have no idea how much I missed you."

I smiled sweetly down at him, brushing a few strands of hair from his eyes. "I can take a guess."

Damon switched our positions, rolling me onto my back so that he was above me. He leaned down, his lips brushing against my neck and moving down to my collar bone. I moved my hands up to his shoulders pushing off his jacket and pulling off his shirt. I saw the grin spread across Damon's face as he pulled my blanket off my bed and over the two of us.

* * *

**TBC**

**A/N: I love Damon. That is all =]**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW!**

**-Jenna**

8df6728e-50a9-493e-9dba-4f3eabf5b616

1.03.01


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

**Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me. The character "Shane" is a creation of my own, basic personality based off of myself.**

* * *

I had fallen asleep, but this time I wasn't woken up by someone shaking me awake or even in my bed. I woke up naturally, feeling the firm floor under me and the presents of another body to my left.

"Morning…Well morning again."

I looked up to see Damon smiling at me, I felt the muscles in his arm tense as he brushed his fingers through my hair. "Morning…Actually I think afternoon is more appropriate." I said to him, looking at the clock hanging on my wall which read 12:24. "How long was I out?"

Damon sat up, leaning against my bed pulling me into his lap. "A few hours, don't worry I wasn't bored or anything. Watching you sleep used to be a favorite hobby of mine."

"Yeah, cause that doesn't sound creepy or anything." I sat up, getting next to Damon draping my legs over his and resting my head on his shoulder.

Damon wrapped his arms around my body, holding me close to him. "Maybe but seeing your chest moving up and down just confirms you're still breathing. I always worried something would happen, it's completely irrational to think some would happen while you're asleep but I think now more then ever it just makes me feel at ease to know you're alright at least for the moment." He pulled me closer pressing his lips to the top of my head then resting his chin on the top of my head.

All I could do was smile, it was still a bit weird but sweet at the same time. Anyone admitting they like watching you sleep was a little strange but with everything involved with Damon's life him keeping me safe is a highest priority. I guess me sleeping peacefully shows him he's doing something right.

* * *

Damon and me spent another hour or so at my place, before going to the Salvatore Boarding House to meet up with Stefan and Elena. We all gathered in the living room and Damon and me explained everything that had happened the day before.

"Wait," Elena spoke first after Damon and I were finished. "Isobel is your cousin _and _my birth mother?"

"Yeah. I actually remember a little bit of when she got pregnant. She had come to us freaking out, saying that she couldn't be a mother and that she could watch Katherine come after her daughter. She was convinced that if she ever had a daughter that Katherine would come and take her."

Elena feel silent. "She was afraid of Katherine coming after her daughter but now _she's_ the one going after the daughter that she gave up. Some mother." Stefan spoke angrily.

I knew he was right in some form but something in me need to try and explain Isobel's actions. "I don't think that's what she's doing. I mean she's up to something, there is no doubt in my mind about that. And she's not just here because of me, if she _really_ wanted me dead she would have gone to any other town I was in not just Mystic Falls. She probably would have ended up posing as a student to a teacher at my school and killed me their. She's here for something, and I don't think it's to kill Elena or even take her."

Stefan glared at me. "So," Damon jumped in. "She doesn't want you dead then?"

"Oh no she does, but it's not her _main_ reason for coming here. Isobel has always planned everything she does _very_ carefully, she even plans for the worst possible thing and has back up for every possible situation. Here being here has something to do with Elena," I walked across the room, sitting in a chair to the right of the fireplace. "But it'll be hard to find out exactly what. I thinks it's a little weird that she chooses _now_ to confront her and seek her out."

Stefan tilted his head, a confused look on his face. "How's it weird, she wasn't always a vampire now that she is she probably thinks she can use Elena for something."

I shook my head. "Isobel has never been one for using people, some how I think she'd still be like that even as a vampire. What's weird is the timing, you and Damon show up, the tomb being opened which is why I ended up here, and you're with Elena. I think someone is telling her what to do, someone is using _her_."

"Who do you think could be using her?" Damon asked.

"Katherine." Elena for only the second time since Damon and I had gotten to the house.

"No way, that's not possible. How would they even have had any contact." Stefan said.

Damon looked from Elena, who just stared at the empty fireplace, to me. "Is that who you were thinking of?"

I nodded. "Who else could it be? Katherine is family; Isobel's, mine, and Elena's. She's the only one who's powerful enough and intimidating enough to be able to scare or force another vampire into doing her bidding for her. The chances of her having heard about Elena by now are extremely high and if she knew about a descendent of hers being turn then I'm sure she'd seek them out."

"And what about you Shane, where would you fit in Katherine's plan, if she even has one."

Damon had a good point, Katherine may not be involved but she was the only one I could think of right now. "Me? I'm Isobel's cousin, Isobel wants me deal because I tried to kill her. I tried to kill her because it's what I've always bee taught to do, I'm a hunter and a good one too. I'm probably one of the only humans who is capable of kill her."

"So, Isobel _and_ Katherine most likely want you dead?" Damon ask, starting to look angry.

"If Katherine is involved and giving Isobel orders, then yeah. Although she doesn't need to tell her to kill me, she'd try that on her own anyway." The four of us sat in silence for a moment, digesting what might be to come. I stood up, walking toward the door while pulling out my cell phone.

"Where are you going?" Damon reached out grabbing my wrist lightly.

"I have to call someone. I'll be right back, I'll even go up stairs if it'll make you feel better." Damon let go of my wrist

"Upstairs, be quick. Isobel knows you're with me and I can't stop her from getting into this house."

I nodded and made my way up to Stefan's room, only because it was the highest point in the house and I had hoped that by going up there Damon and him would hear less of what I was saying.

There were two people I had to call, the first was a call I didn't want to make but I knew I had to. I scrolled through my phone, found the number, and pressed send.

The line rang four times before someone picked up. "Hello?"

I held my breath for a moment before speaking. "Ric, it's Shane." The other end was silent, _Great_, I thought,_ I get out three words and he hangs up on me_. "Ric, are you there? I know this is weird, me calling out of the blue like this but it's important."

"I'm here Shane." He cleared his throat before continuing. "So, um, what's up?"

"It's about Izzy."

"You found her?" He sounded like he was getting excited, which meant he hope she was still herself.

"More like she found me. She's been watching Mystic Falls, I think she's been doing it for someone before the decide to show up. Ric, I don't know if Izzy ever said anything but when she was still in high school she was pregnant. She gave the baby up for adoption as soon as it was born. The who she's here watching, her daughter Elena."

"She has a daughter? Why wouldn't she ever tell me that?"

"She didn't want anyone to know, the school thought she went to Europe for a few months when she had started to show a little. She was hiding her to protect her."

"Protect her from what? And why didn't she say anything to _me_ we were married! It not like I would have done anything about it, I wouldn't have tried to find her."

"She figure the less anyone knew the better. Only her parents, my sister, and me knew. Do you remember the stories about Katherine?"

"Yeah, evil bitch who killed her brother. I always said they were bullshit stories before Izzy was attacked."

"That's who she was protecting her from. There a legend in our family that has something to do with some sort of doppelganger but I don't really know anything about that. All I know is that Isobel worry her daughter would turn out to be Katherine's doppelganger and she'd come after her for some reason. It turns out that she looks _exactly_ like Katherine and I'm pretty sure that after Isobel was turned, Katherine sot her out because of the family relation."

"And from there you think she may have told Isobel to seek out her daughter? Why?"

"I don't know, Izzy knew more about the doppelganger thing."

Ric fell silent again, this was a lot to take in especially when you didn't have the whole story. There were missing pieces that none of us knew, no one were the answers to the 'Why' questions. Only Isobel.

"So," He started again. "Isobel is back, her daughter is Katherine's doppelganger, Isobel has been watching her, possibly because an ancestor has told her to, and why have no clue why."

"Yeah that would pretty much sum things up."

"I'm coming to Mystic Falls."

"Ric, no bad idea. Izzy isn't Izzy anymore the woman you loved and married is gone. You can't save her, she doesn't want to be saved."

"I'm not coming to save her or even try to understand her. I'm coming to help, besides I saw a job opening for a history teacher there online the other day. I'm unemployed at the moment so I need a job."

"Fine, whatever. But I have just a small favor to ask. I need you to not kill to vampires."

"Not kill? Why?"

"Well they're helping me out, trying to figure out why Isobel's here and what Katherine could want if she involved. And the one is sort of with Elena, Isobel's daughter."

"And the other?"

"Is sort of with…me."

"Shane are you crazy?"

"I was with him before…I just didn't know he was a vampire. I would have probably figured it out at some point and that's why he had left with out saying anything."

"Wait…Damon…Are you talking about DAMON? You know I thought I was just _seeing_ things that night Izzy was attacked. The guy there looked an awful lot like you're ex, but it _was_ him that came in that night. _He's_ the one who turn Isobel into a vampire! Shane I'm sorry but he's dead!"

"Ric, hold on a second! Isobel sot _him_ out, Isobel _asked_ him to turn her! Reading wasn't enough for her anymore, she needed to experience it for herself!"

"That doesn't matter Shane! This guys has got you so twisted around you don't have your priorities straight! He's using compulsion on you so you _don't_ try and kill him.!"

"How can he if I'm wearing vervain? He has never used any compulsion on me, even before I never what he was. I swear Ric, if you _touch _him it'll be the last thing you ever do."

"I'll be in Mystic Falls tomorrow."

The line went dead, my heart was pounding against my chest so hard it might burst right through my ribs. I had thought talking to Alaric might go a little better then that, I knew he'd be upset hearing the news about Isobel but he wasn't supposed to find out about Damon and Isobel.

With the call to Ric out of the way, I had one more call to make and this one would be quicker. But that didn't make me want to do it anymore.

I dial the next number and it want straight to voice mail, thank god. "It's Shane. I thought you might like to know that you're ex is in town and has been keeping an eye on your daughter. Yes, Isobel told me you were the father, I'm to only one who knows. I don't know what she wants, but I think you should find out and get her out of here. I'm giving you one week John, if she's not gone by then I _will_ kill her."

-TBC-

* * *

**A/N: I hope you like this new chapter, I think I do I at least like the idea of it. The execution maybe could be better. I'm sorry it took so long to write, I hope you're all still with me and don't hate me for not updating often.**

**As usual:**

**READ. ENJOY. PLEASE REVIEW!**

**=)**

**-Jenna**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me. The character "Shane" is a creation of my own, basic personality based off of myself.**

**Her Portrait in Black**

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

For the rest of the day Damon was trying to figure out who I had been on the phone with and what I needed to talk to them about that I couldn't tell him. I figured if he knew I had call John Gilbert he'd be pissed, so I thought it was better that I didn't say anything about that. As for Ric, I wasn't sure how me basically inviting another vampire hunter to town would go over. Especially one that already wasn't a fan of his, since Ric was around when Damon had skipped town. He witnessed how it all had affected me and I hate to say that I was destroyed, but I really was.

My quiet demeanor didn't fail to escape Damon, he knew that something was up and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like what was coming. We were on our way out of the house when he grabbed my elbow by the door and turned me to face him.

"You ready to tell me everything that's going on now or do I have to wait and see who's going to drop by? Did you call Luke? You know I'm pretty sure he's going to want to kill me after taking off. I know I had said he can't scare me but if he's involved with your family secret then I might be a little."

I rolled my eyes, laughing lightly. "No I didn't call Luke. I need help but I'm not crazy, it'll be bad enough if my sister comes back."

Damon let out a sigh of relief. "Good, cause I really would rather not have to have a battle to the death with Rambo. If you didn't call him, you want to tell me _who_ you did call?"

"Another friend, just don't worry about it." I reached for the door knob and went to walked through the now opened door but was pulled back by Damon. His face now looked annoyed and impatient. "Damon, let go of me." I move to pull my arm from his grasp; he was actually starting to scare me a little bit, which he had never done before.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Christ Shane, I'm not going to hurt you or anything, I'm just getting tired of you beating around the bush. Just tell me who you called here, I need to know who it is so I don't get into a fight with them. If they're connected to you then I'm sure they'd like me dead." He released my arm, putting his hands to his sides and waited for me to say something.

"His name is Alaric Saltzman. He is, or was, Isobel's husband. He had no clue about vampires until Isobel disappeared; at least that they were real. Isobel talked about them enough but he thought it was just a hobby."

"Does he know about me?" I stayed silent, not answering him, which only annoyed him further. "Shane!" Damon snapped at me, bringing my attention to his angry expression. "Does he know about me?"

"He knows your name and that we were together." I tried to shrug it all off, hoping to get him to move on, but I didn't know why I ever thought it would work.

"And..." Damon could tell there was more I wasn't saying.

"And he knows what you are, but I had to tell him!" I quickly threw in, seeing the fury cross over his face.

"You _told_ him! The husband of the woman I turn! You just went and told him about me? Shane what the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I was saving your life! I figured if he knew who you were and who you are to me he'd be more like to not try and kill you. And I didn't come right out and say that vampire that turned your wife is my ex and we're sort of involved again. I barely said anything, just that there were two vampires here that he needed to grant immunity to and not go after. You and your brother."

"But you told him about us?"

"Well, yeah I mean he wanted a reason why you and Stefan were off limits I told him Elena was with your brother and that you were kind of with me. He freaked out, questioning my sanity and so I told him we were together before but I hadn't known about you then it clicked in his head. He remembered you, remembered when you left, remembered what I was like, how I just shut myself off for a while."

Damon sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It was that bad?"

Damon stared at me with guilt on his face. I shrugged looking down at my feet. "I got over it quick, you know me I don't like to dwell on things."

"Lair." He reached out, putting his hand lightly on my wrist pulling me to him. He put his hand to the side of my face, tilting my head back a little. "I'm sorry. I was trying to keep you safe; I wasn't the only one in town when I left. I didn't want anyone to see us together, it'd give them something to use against me."

I smiled lightly, putting my hands on top of his and pulling them away from my cheeks. "You know it's okay, right? I had my issues and I got over them, more easily now that I know _why_ you left. And since you _did_ tell me why, I should tell you Ric isn't the only one that I called and I wasn't even going to say anything but now that I think about it he's going to be an ass and hang this in front of my face. But I can't tell you here." I motioned to the front of the house, silently telling him we needed to go outside before I told him anymore.

Damon nodded, taking my hand and leading me outside of the house. We walked for about five minutes, far enough from the house so that Stefan wouldn't hear me. We were at the edge of the woods, with the house out of sight, before Damon nodded to me. "We're good here. I can't hear Stefan and Elena moving or talking anymore, there's no way he can hear us."

I nodded, pausing for a moment to collect my thoughts and think about how I was going to word things. He waited, patiently for once, until I was ready to speak. I took a deep breath and began. "Besides calling Ric I called Elena's father."

"You know who Elena's father is? I thought that just Isobel's one friend knew, she hadn't said anything to Elena."

"No, I knew. I was young when Isobel got pregnant but I was also very aware of how scared she was, being so young no one wanted to tell me anything ever so I learned to read people at a very young age. It was the only way I could ever know when something was wrong. Isobel actually told me what she was afraid of, the whole family knew the story about Katharine, to me it was just a bedtime story but the rest of the family knew its truth. Isobel was scared to death that Katharine would come after her baby, afraid she'd have a girl who would be the doppelganger."

"Well, she wasn't wrong." Damon threw out leaning on the trunk of a tree, letting me continue.

"Right, well she wouldn't have known that then. She couldn't bare the thought of someone coming after her baby and taking her away. When she started to show my aunt and uncle took her out of her high school and continued to home school her letting people think she was in Europe for a semester or something. She called the father to tell him she was due soon and that she wouldn't be able to protect the baby if she was Katharine's doppelganger. He said that his brother and sister-in-law were trying to have a baby but weren't having any luck. Their baby would be safe with them."

"Elena's fathers' brother and sister-in-law? The Gilberts?"

"Yeah. Elena's father is John Gilbert, Grayson was just her uncle but he and Miranda took her in knowing the danger she could be in and raised her as their own, making John the pestering uncle. With a name change and no physical connection to Isobel and anyone else in my family there was less of a chance the Katharine would find her and use her or kill her. I don't know how the whole doppelganger thing works or what Elena's roll is but being with the Gilberts was the safest beat."

Damon was silent for a moment, than he began to pace back and forth. "John Gilbert, I'm guessing he's in on the whole founder's council secret?"

"And I think he knows that you and Stefan died a _long_ time ago. From what I remember Isobel telling me about him he was obsessed with the original founders here and any journals that were kept. So anyone who really knew about what happened and wrote it down, he read about it."

"Do you know if he and Zach were close or if they spoke?"

I shook my head. "Not for such, it's more likely that Grayson and Zach were friends or whatever. John, as far as I know, didn't stay in Mystic Falls for long only popping in every now and then for a few day. I guess he wanted to be in Elena's life in some way, see her grow up."

"So why'd you call him?"

"To warn him."

Damon stared at me for a second, at a loss for words. "What do you mean warn him? Warn him about what?"

"John is still in love with Isobel, I'm sure of it just like I'm sure he's been in contact with her since her change and I'm sure he had something to do with Isobel seeking you out. I'm giving him a week to get her out of here, if she's not gone in that amount of time I'm going to kill her myself. If I wait too long she'll come after me again and I'm sure she's going to confront Elena."

"Okay, so what? We wait for Papa John to stop by, then what?"

"I don't know, I don't know what John's going to do. I don't know if he's going to get rid of her or help her. It could go either way, but I needed to give him the chance to do the right thing. She maybe a psycho bitch but she _is_ still my family. Maybe John can make her give a shit about _something_."

"So we'll wait. Wait for John, wait for this Ric guy, we need to make up some kind of plan _while_ we wait though. In case John doesn't get Isobel out of here or her husband falls for some old trick she may have."

"Right." I nodded in agreement. "But I have no idea where to start, there's too much going on at once and my head is going to explode. I really don't think I can do this; this is all stuff that wasn't supposed to happen. I'm not supposed to have to deal with this." I stepped back leaning against a tree.

Damon stopped in front of me, taking a few steps forward putting his hand against the tree on either side of my head. "Hey, it's not like you're going to deal with it by yourself, Shane. You got me here or did you forget?"

"No, it's kind of hard to forget you Damon. You make sure everyone knows you're around."

Damon let out a soft laugh, ducking his head down a little to brush his lips against my neck. "Come on, let's go get something to eat, maybe to drink too. I think you might need it."

Damon took my right hand in his, pulling me from the tree and close to his side and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. For a moment at least I could be confident that I didn't have to worry about anything. It was only going to be a short period of time but it's be nice to not think about Isobel or John for a little while.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: So, another update. Been a little while but I was stick at Chapter 9, not sure how to continue. I knew I wanted Shane to tell Damon about Ric and John but wasn't sure how. I figured the best way to do it is to just jump in and see where it goes. I hope this chapter made sense…For some reason I don't know that it does. May require a rewrite…We'll see.**

**I've updated I think all my other stories, so if you're reading any other ones check them out!**

**Thanks!**

**READ. REVIEW. ENJOY! =D**

**Jenna**


	11. Chapter Eleven

******Her Portrait in Black**

**Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me. The character "Shane" is a creation of my own, basic personality based off of myself.**

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

Damon and me went to the grill, grabbing something to eat and sitting down at a table toward the back wall. He sat across from me eat his cheeseburger while I ate a grilled chicken salad, nice simple and normal meals. We didn't talk too much, I wanted nothing more then to forget about our issues at hand so I just focused on my salad doing things like counting the leaves in the bowl and pushing the tomatoes around on my plate. Anytime I glanced up I could tell that the only thing that Damon was thinking about was John and Ric and how it would all play out. I was sure he didn't want to make me mad at him by getting in to some sort of altercation with them, well at least Ric. I really didn't give two shits about what might happen between him and John, as long as he didn't kill him I would be cool.

The whole time we sat there I could read the worry or concern all over his face. And it was starting to irritate me. I had tried to pull him from his own thoughts a few times by starting a simple conversation but he would just shrug or nod. So, rather then trying to _voice _my desire for conversation or at least for him to think about something _else_, my foot shot up a few inches and kicked him in the shin.

Damon jumped in his chair, his leg jerking up and making him bang his knee. "Ow, what the hell Shane?"

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to my salad. "Oh don't act like that hurt."

"What was that for, did I do something?"

"Oh you mean beside ignoring me for the last 45 minutes? No, of course not."

Damon put down the fry he was about to eat back down on his plate, sighed, and looked up ate me. "Sorry, I'm just-"

"Freaking out about John and Ric?"

He tilted his head to the side slightly and glared at me a little. "No, I'm not freaking out about it I'm just thinking. Trying to play out every scenario and outcome that could be possible."

"Well stop it. I don't want to have to worry about them or even _think_ about them until they actually show up."

"I get that but I need to be prepared for someone coming after me and my brother, whether they do or not I need to be ready for it."

I shook my head, putting my fork down and leaned back in my chair with my arms across my chest. "Okay fine, at least pretend that you're no making a metal playbook while we sit and eat or while we're out at all. I would like to have a taste of normal for more the 15 minutes if that's not too much to ask for."

Damon laughed lightly. "Hate to tell you babe but there's nothing normal about being with me, for obvious reasons." I rolled my eyes at him. "What? You know it's true, and I'm sure deep down there's a part of you that wants to see me with a stake through my heart because that's the life you were brought up in. So there's a part of you that probably hates yourself for ever being with me."

"Damon, how could you think that?" I was almost disgusted at the mere suggestion of me hating myself for being with him.

"How could I not, the thought has been in my head since finding out about your family. You're a hunter Shane, you kill things like me and you've been raised to hate them."

"I'm not a _hunter_ I just find the groups that doing the killing and pass on the info. I can _fight_ but I've never killed a vampire." I stood from my seat, grabbing my jacket. "The only time I've ever even come close to killing one was when I shot at Isobel. Think what ever you want about me Damon but you're wrong about think I'd hate myself for being with you. Although I'm kind of hating _you_ a little right now." I turned around and stomped out of the Grill, unable to believe Damon doubted how I felt about him and me together then and even now.

I went out the door and walked down the street a little, Damon coming out only a few steps behind me. He jogged lightly to catch up to my fast pace. "Shane wait! Please, come on!"

"Not right now Damon, if case you haven't noticed I'm _not_ in the mood. And you can thank yourself for that."

"Damn it Shane, stop!" He finally reached me and grabbed my elbow lightly, turning me to face him. "Talk to me."

"Talk about what? How you're trying to bail out on me _again_? Not a subject I want to get into in the middle of the town. But thanks anyway _babe_."

"Bail? I'm not trying to bail I was just stating the truth-"

"_Oh_ so you can read my mind now? What an awesome power to have, just remember to use it for good not evil." I turned to walk away from him but he leapt in from of me.

"How many times are you going to try and walk away from me today?"

"As many as I need to to actually _get_ away, now move!"

"No! Christ Shane how did we go from you being annoyed be me ignoring you to a full on fight?"

"Because you never actually _think_ before you open your mouth. You want to protect me right? In your head that mean driving me away, that's what you did before isn't it? You knew others were around and didn't want them to see me as some sort of target. You're doing the exact same thing now, only difference it you being around or not won't have an effect on how safe I am. Isobel is coming for _me_, whether I'm with you or _not_ she's still coming. Tell me the _truth_; do you really think I could _ever_ hate _myself_ for being with you, no matter what you are, when the only thing I want in the world is to be with you?"

Damon's icy blue-gray eyes stared deep into my bright jade green eyes. I felt my eyes begin to burn as tears started to form, truly afraid that Damon wouldn't believe my words and that they might be wrong. I loved him more then anything but what if this wasn't just him trying to keep me safe.

I could see a wall he'd been holding up crash when he took a slow step forward, putting his hand on the right side of my hip, and pulled me to his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist, burring my head in his chest. His strong arms wrapped around, bringing me as close to him as he possibly could, as he pressed his lips softly to my temple and let out a sigh. "I just…I assumed you felt like you were doing something wrong but just didn't want to admit it to yourself. I thought if I pointed it out to you then maybe you wouldn't regret anything about us…regret anything about me _period_. I prayed that I was wrong, I wouldn't want you to feel like you disappointed your family because of me."

I sniffed quietly, turning my head so my cheek rested against his chest and his chin on the top of my head. "Well, you thought wrong so prayer answered."

"Aw, well isn't this just the sweetest thing I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing. I'd thought for sure you'd be done with him dear cousin, you know after finding out he was the one to make me the woman I am today."

I turned around, best I could with Damon's arms tightening around me, to see a smirking Isobel. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh me? Nothing, just taking a little stroll around town. And you two were on a date I suppose? How sweet, I hope all went well but seeing as you appear to have tear tracks running down your cheeks I'm going to say that's a no. Though what ever may have happened seems to be okay now, did you make-up?"

"Isobel, leave. Now. And I don't just mean leave the general area, I mean leave town before it's too late. I'm only going to give you a warning _once_. The next time I see you near Shane I _will_ rip your throat out myself." Damon practically growled his words when speaking to Isobel.

She let out a soft, amused, laugh. "Damon you are just too much you know that? I'm not going anywhere sweetheart." Isobel came forward, taking slow deliberate steps. "I have someone who is much more fearsome above me who wants me here, so until I am told my job is finished here I'm not going anywhere. It's cute how you think I'd be afraid of you."

"You should be, I _know_ I'm stronger then you."

"Maybe, but you and I both know that you are not stronger then Katherine." I felt Damon tense behind me at the mention of Katherine, which worried me.

Nothing else was said, Isobel moved passed Damon and me, throwing her hand up to wave her good-bye as if we were old friends. We stood still for a few minutes, the whole thing made me nervous. We had only suspected that Katherine was behind all this but now we had confirmation, as long as Isobel wasn't just trying to throw us all off. But that wasn't the main thing that worried me, Damon was. I didn't want to loose him, especially not to Katherine.

"Hey," Damon shook me gently. "Everything is going to be fine, we'll figure all this out. Come on, let's go back to the house."

"Yeah." There wasn't much more I could say, I couldn't really think too straight and wasn't sure how everything was going to turn out.

We were only walking for a couple minutes before Damon spoke again. "Stop worrying about her." I turned my head, giving him a confused look. "Katherine is a bitch, Shane. I'm done with her."

Of course he knew I was worried about him going back to her. "Yeah, you say that now but what happens when she comes back and you see her for the first time in 145 years?"

"_If_ she comes back, we don't know she'll ever step foot in Mystic Falls and nothing will happen except Stefan and me either end her life or chasing her out town. It's you and me for as long as you can stand me. We'll take on everyone if we have to and we'll do it together.

I smiled softly up at Damon, wrapping my arm around his waist as we walked. "Damn straight."

_Bring it on Katherine._

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: Just a little shorter then some of the other chapters. And a little bit of a gap between updates but here you go!**

**READ. REVIEW. ENJOY! =D**

**Jenna**


End file.
